Ever wondered about a celebrities backstage demands?

[Sleepyskull]

This a pretty cool site: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstage. It has copies of the original documents that detail what musicians, comedians, politicians, etc... require and/or want during their appearances, performances, and the time around those events.

Some of them are pretty funny:  I can just imagine Ted Nugent requiring "Man-sized" kleenex and Def Leppard is apparently very particular when it comes to orange juice!

[Mr. DS]

I love reading these and I think I did a thread on it a few years back.  Its the side of rock n roll fringe benefits you don't hear much about, the free food.  It kind of p!sses me off that millionaire rock stars don't pay for their own food but in the end the ends justify the means for the venues.  

[Flick James]

I know this is going to sound like I'm defending the ridiculous things that celebrities demand, but I'm not. I read somewhere that there is a legitimate reason why celebrities stick these clauses into their contracts and it's not always just because they're spoiled brat celebrities. Sometimes they don't really care about the item(s) in question. I read about this because the topic at hand was the infamous Van Halen story about them demanding no brown M&M's backstage, so venues had to provide bowls of M&M's and go through and remove the brown ones. In that case it wasn't that Van Halen gave two s**ts about brown M&M's. The issue was that if the venue slips up on one of these clauses, then there's a good chance they're slipping up on something they're supposed to be providing that IS important. In some cases it's just an "attention to detail" ploy. Silly at times, to be sure, but it's not always a spoiled celebrity issue.

[Mr. DS]

I know this is going to sound like I'm defending the ridiculous things that celebrities demand, but I'm not. I read somewhere that there is a legitimate reason why celebrities stick these clauses into their contracts and it's not always just because they're spoiled brat celebrities. Sometimes they don't really care about the item(s) in question. I read about this because the topic at hand was the infamous Van Halen story about them demanding no brown M&M's backstage, so venues had to provide bowls of M&M's and go through and remove the brown ones. In that case it wasn't that Van Halen gave two s**ts about brown M&M's. The issue was that if the venue slips up on one of these clauses, then there's a good chance they're slipping up on something they're supposed to be providing that IS important. In some cases it's just an "attention to detail" ploy. Silly at times, to be sure, but it's not always a spoiled celebrity issue.

Oh absolutely and I understand that.  I just don't get why Christina Aguleira needed Evian water at room temperature only.  Its that kind of stuff that irks me. 

[Flick James]

I know this is going to sound like I'm defending the ridiculous things that celebrities demand, but I'm not. I read somewhere that there is a legitimate reason why celebrities stick these clauses into their contracts and it's not always just because they're spoiled brat celebrities. Sometimes they don't really care about the item(s) in question. I read about this because the topic at hand was the infamous Van Halen story about them demanding no brown M&M's backstage, so venues had to provide bowls of M&M's and go through and remove the brown ones. In that case it wasn't that Van Halen gave two s**ts about brown M&M's. The issue was that if the venue slips up on one of these clauses, then there's a good chance they're slipping up on something they're supposed to be providing that IS important. In some cases it's just an "attention to detail" ploy. Silly at times, to be sure, but it's not always a spoiled celebrity issue.

Oh absolutely and I understand that.  I just don't get why Christina Aguleira needed Evian water at room temperature only.  Its that kind of stuff that irks me. 

I can understand the room temperature part. If you're a vocalist you want to avoid consuming cold things as it negatively affects the throat and vocal chords.

[HappyGilmore]

I don't know much about the riders.  I read something about it on another website, cause the Smoking Gun has Weird Al's rider listed, and I was on one of his websites.  Someone there mentioned that, depending upon how the musicians are travelling and how well the buses are equipped, frozen food can't be carried for long, and seeing as they're only in a city for a day, they don't really know the area.  Plus, they spend most of the day at the venue setting up the stage and rehearsing.  Not that I'm defending said riders, but it made sense at the time.  If I'm busy all day rehearsing and setting up wardrobe and all that, last thing I wanna do is take two hours out to go find a supermarket and all that.

I love reading these and I think I did a thread on it a few years back.  Its the side of rock n roll fringe benefits you don't hear much about, the free food.  It kind of p!sses me off that millionaire rock stars don't pay for their own food but in the end the ends justify the means for the venues.  

I read somewhere, I think a magazine, that said something to the effect that if a rider (the ridiculous lists in question) are provided by a musician/comedian/actor/whatever, and said venue does in fact provide the items listed, it's knocked off the price said performer is paid.  So, if the rider costs the venue $10,000.00, the performer is then, at that point, deducted that amount from what they're paid.  Again, don't know if it's true, but I read it a couple times.

Weird Al demands that if bottled water is provided, there must not be any Dasani water.  Apparently, only cause there was a purity issue with it a few years back, so it's supposed to be Poland Spring or Evian.

[Trevor]

My non negotiable demands:

1. Freshly laundered underpants every hour, on the hour.
2. Joan Collins and Loni Anderson as my lingerie wearing love slaves backstage.
3. Peanuts with no seasoning and no trace of nuts.
4. Pizza with no base, cheese or any meat or vegetable.
5. Coffee with no caffeine, sugar, water or milk. In fact, no coca bean products at all.